Seeing One Another
by CommanderCorson
Summary: This is a miscellaneous collection of wholesome Claire & Leon centric stories that were originally shared in the Facebook Group, Resident Evil STARSposting. Claire's character interpretation in these stories were inspired by some of the content in that Facebook Group. I thought it would be nice to share it here as well.
1. Ice Cream

"Alright, Claire." Leon began, plopping down on the park bench next to her. "Which flavor would you like?"

Looking between the brilliant pink atop the cone in his left hand and the pure white in his right, Claire brought her hand up to point towards her choice. "St-Strawberry... Please..."

"Sure." Leon nodded, extending the strawberry ice cream over to her. "Here you go."

As Claire reached out to accept the frozen delight, her fingers gently brushed against Leon's. The feeling of his skin against hers sent her senses spiraling, a warmth emanating from her chest before pulling her hand back in surprise.

Her sudden motion caused both of them to lose their grip on the cone and it fell right onto Leon's lap, the pink of the ice cream completely obscuring the dark blue of his uniform.

"I-I'm so... so s-sorry!" Claire stammered out. Feelings of shame washing over her as she stared down at the ground.

Her shoulders tense, Claire tried her best to not cry in front of someone that has been so kind to her. But right before the first tear fell down her cheek, a light chuckle broke the silence between them.

"It's okay, Claire." Leon reassured, brushing the fallen ice cream off of his pant leg and onto the grass at their feet. "A lot worse has gotten on my uniform, I'm sorry that I surprised you."

"Th-That's..." Her shoulders relaxed a bit. "That's okay..."

Swallowing her nerves, Claire peeked over at Leon while she interlaced her fingers together. "I-I'm sorry too."

Smiling back at her, Leon extended his right hand towards her. "Here, it's starting to melt."

Gazing at the vanilla ice cream running over his fingers, Claire looked back up towards him, just slightly below his eyes to avoid making contact with them. "B-But... Th-That's not fair!"

"I-It's my faul-" The word felt like glass in her throat. "My f-fault that the ice cream fell, y-you should have it."

"I'll tell you what." Leon began. "If you want to make it up to me, you can come cheer me on at the police baseball game."

"Baseball...?" Claire asked, seemingly interested.

"Yeah!" Leon replied. "Chief Irons has been really persistent about getting me to sign up for it. It's between the R.P.D. and the sheriff's department up in Stoneville."

Gazing between the lower half of Leon's face and the ice cream in his hand, Claire began reaching for the cold confection. "I-I like baseball."

Her hand grasping the top half of the cone, Leon shifted his grip towards the bottom, making sure that she had a firm grasp around it before letting go completely.

"Thank you, Claire." Leon said with a pleasant smile. "I feel like I'll be able to play a lot better knowing you'll be cheering me on."

Claire returned his smile. "M-My big brother says the s-same thing."

"Really?" Leon asked.

"Y-Yeah." Claire confirmed, taking a lick of her ice cream. "I-I don't have a s-single memory he isn't a part of."

"H-He's always been there for m-me..." Her smile wavering slightly, she continued eating her treat. "Ever since Mama and Pop..."

The vanilla of the ice cream began to taste salty. "When... Whenever I get upset... or... or make a mess... a-and embarrass him... and make l-life hard for him..."

"Am I..." Hot droplets of water fell upon the pure white ice cream, causing it to melt at a hastened pace. "Am I a burden?"

"What? Of course not." Leon answered, reaching out to touch her shoulder, but pulling back at the last second. "You're not a burden, Claire."

"B-But..." Dropping her ice cream cone to the ground, Claire brought her hands up to her face to begin crying into them.

"A-And you too!" Her voice was muffled by her tears and her palms. "Y-You've had to... to take c-care of me all week..."

Her cries ceased for a moment before beginning again with even more strength. "I-I'm a burden to you too!"

Deciding against his better judgement, Leon placed a tender hand on Claire's shoulder. "You're not a burden, Claire. Please, don't ever think that."

"Bu-But..." Claire choked out between her sobs.

"I've had a lot of fun spending time with you this past week." Leon reassured, gently patting her shoulder. "You've made this week a special one, by just you being you. There's no person in the whole world like you; and I like you just the way you are."

Pulling her hands down away from her eyes, Claire made eye contact with Leon for the first time. Despite the tears, Leon could see how beautiful her blue eyes were.

Still covering the lower part of her face, Leon could just barely hear her between her ragged breaths. "I-I... I l-l-like you... ju-just the way you a-are t-too..."

As Leon smiled at her, Claire slowly brought her hands all the way off of her face, returning his happy expression.

Offering her one final pat on the shoulder, Leon hopped to his feat and offered Claire a hand up. "Now what do you say we go get some ice cream?"

Her smile going all squiggly, Claire giggled as she accepted his hand. "O-Okay."


	2. Meeting

"Chris...?" Claire meekly called out, poking her head into the S.T.A.R.S. office.

Not hearing a response, Claire entered the room and looked around, holding the bag that contained her lunch and the book she wanted to tell her big brother about.

The office was completely empty. Walking over to her brother's desk, Claire spotted a small note underneath a coffee mug.

"Sorry, Claire." She began reading aloud. "There was a tram accident up in the Arklays, so I had to leave. We can have lunch another time."

"Oh..." Claire placed the note back down after writing a brief confirmation at the bottom of the piece of paper, letting her brother know she read his message.

Looking down at her feet, Claire felt a wave of disappointment wash over her. She understood that her brother was a busy person, and that saving people was far more important than having lunch with her. But she still felt sad.

As she left the S.T.A.R.S. office, Claire could overhear some R.P.D. officers discussing various topics.

"Hey, would you like to have lunch together?" One office asked a friend of theirs.

"Sure!" Another happily replied. "We can talk about that cute new rookie."

Feeling herself tense up at the doorway, Claire walked out into the hallway as other police officers were filtering from room to room.

As she walked down the stairs to the ground floor, she ended up hearing people talk about her.

"Isn't that Redfield's little sister?" A secretary asked a colleague.

"Oh... Hey..." A passing officer said as he looked at his superior. "Do you think she's lost?"

At every word, Claire felt more and more anxious, just wanting to curl up into a ball and hide behind the long, auburn curtain of her hair. But in just a few more minutes, she'd be free of everyone else's voices and she could be at peace.

As she neared the R.P.D.'s entrance, she overheard the desk sergeant whisper to another officer. "The poor dear, it must be hard for her to get around without any help."

Feeling her stomach knot up, she quickly walked through the door and towards her sanctuary, the garden close to the police station.

Sitting down on a bench among the flowers and plants, Claire let out the breath she was holding since she left the S.T.A.R.S. offices

"I made it." She proudly said to herself as she placed her bag onto her lap and opened it up.

Placing her lunch next to her on the bench, Claire pulled out the book she wanted to share with her brother, and hopefully have him read.

Brushing her hand over the cover, Claire read the words aloud through a light whisper. "Look me in the eye..." The cover had a picture of a frowning man on it, his face scrunched up and his eyes firmly closed.

Looking at the book, she thought about what she overheard the desk sergeant say. Feeling herself begin to tear up, she tried to steady her breathing, but it didn't work. As she held the book by the spine tightly in one hand, she brought the other one up to her face.

She tried talking to herself in an attempt to calm down, as she brought the hand that had been holding the book up to her chest. "I-I... I'd... I'd be..." Claire could feel hot tears run over the hand she brought up to her face. "I'd be happy with just... just one friend..."

Her eyes blurry from all of her tears, she heard footsteps nearby. Gasping, Claire quickly wiped her eyes on her sleeve while whispering to herself. "I can't... I can't let anyone see me like this."

Hearing the footsteps get closer and closer, Claire rubbed her eyes harder. "Please... just leave me alone." She plead in her mind, not wanting anyone to go around telling the everyone that she was crying by herself.

The sound of the footsteps ceased, and Claire let out a sigh of relief, as she lowered her arm to allow her tears to continue to flow. But as she raised her head, she saw a small white square in a large hand.

"H-Huh?" Claire looked at the corner of what she could now see was a handkerchief, she had to squint slightly to make out the embroidery, but she could read the initials on it. "L.S.K...?"

Realizing that someone was standing right in front of her, Claire traced the hand back to its source, her eyes running up a muscular arm that belonged to a very tall man in a police uniform.

Claire 's teary blue eyes meeting his compassionate light blue ones, the man standing in front of her smiled empathetically. "Hello."

Claire sat, staring up with watery eyes at the man standing before her. The moment of surprise from his presence passing, she quickly lowered her head back down to hide her disheveled state.

While she held her head down, Claire heard the man begin to speak. "Are you okay?"

As she opened her mouth to make an attempt to address him, Claire found it even more difficult to speak to someone than usual. With her words caught in her throat, Claire simply nodded in the affirmative.

Out from under her bangs, Claire could see the man kneel down beside her. Her hands had been quivering since she began crying, and despite her best efforts to hold them in place and not seem like she was falling apart in front of a stranger, she was failing.

As teardrops fell on her shaking hands, Claire 's vision was once again filled with the sight of a pure white piece of cloth. "Here." The man offered. "This is the least I can do."

Unable to look at him directly, Claire shook her head vigorously as she finally found the strength to speak.. "B-But... I couldn't... a-accept... such a... clean..." She was close to hyperventilating, having difficulty uttering more than a single word between breathes.

Closing her eyes while her breathing continued to hasten and her tears still flowed, despite her best efforts to stymie them. Claire felt something make contact with her left cheek while raising her head up delicately.

As Claire 's eyes opened, she was greeted by a kind, warm smile as she looked into caring eyes.

While they continued to stare into each other's eyes, the man tenderly brought his handkerchief up to her face and wiped away the tears pooling below her right eye. As he moved over to her left, Claire couldn't do anything besides look at the kind person in front of her. His palm was a bit rugged, but he was so gentle and his hand felt so warm against her cool cheek that Claire didn't have the slightest desire to pull her face away from his hands.

After he had finished wiping away Claire 's tears and pulled his hands back, the man smiled brightly at her. Claire looked off to the side out of embarrassment while sneaking the occasional glance at him.

"Here. Please, take it." The man offered as he held the slightly damp handkerchief towards Claire .

Claire looked away from him completely this time. "I-I... couldn't... possibly..."

Still holding his handkerchief out towards her, his sympathetic smile didn't falter for a moment as he put the embroidered piece of cloth in her hands. "A handkerchief that goes unused is a thing to be mourned. Especially one that is not allowed to dry one's tears."

Feeling her grip tighten around the soft fabric in between her slender fingers, Claire turned back towards him while looking down slightly. "Th-Thank you... v-very much..."

The man stood back up. "Think nothing of it." Dusting his pant leg off from kneeling down, he continued. "Would you like me to walk you to the home?"

"O-Oh..." Claire patted her face with the handkerchief she was given. "N-No, thank you."

"Are you sure? It's no problem." He said.

"Y-Yes..." Claire paused as she thought of some sort of excuse to give to the man that was so kindly showing concern for her. "I-It's just... It's just a-allergies."

Claire could feel that her lie was easily detected by him. "Ah, I see." She heard him say. "If that's the case, then I hope you feel better soon."

"Th-Thank you..." Claire 's gratitude was both for his well wishes, as well as for the consideration he had for not pressing her on such an obvious fabrication.

"You're very welcome." He replied, and as he opened his mouth to say something else, the sound of a his radio cracking to life broke his train of thought. Noticing Claire 's lunch sitting next to her, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh! It seems like I lost track of time again today." Laughing to himself, he turned back towards Claire. "I'm sorry, but I have to go." Nodding to Claire politely, he smiled. "Enjoy your lunch, and have a lovely day."

"Y-You too." Claire nodded back to him. "Th-Thank you."

As the man turned to take his leave, Claire looked back down at the handkerchief in her hands. "L.S.K..." Bringing her head back up to ask him a question. "E-Excuse me..." But by the time she called out to him, he was already out of earshot.

"Oh..." Claire gently muttered to herself, she was curious what the compassionate officer's name was, she hadn't noticed the nametag on his uniform. Considering the time, it would be best for her to eat and then head back to her brother's house. So she put her book back into her school bag, but as she did, the handkerchief the officer had given to her fell onto her lap.

Lifting the piece of fabric up in her right hand, while her left gripped the metal feather on the necklace she wore. Claire looked at the initials on the handkerchief, as a light blush graced her cheeks.

~o~O~o~

Author's Note

Hello, everyone. This chapter is actually a revised version of two different chapters from my main story, Auburn Eyes. I hope that you enjoyed this, and if you'd like to read more wholesome content, feel free to take a look at Auburn Eyes, I'm quite proud of it. Thank you, and have a lovely day.


	3. Ducks In A Row

Walking side by side on the boardwalk around the local lake, Claire nervously rubbed the thin, red leather of her watch strap in between her thumb and index finger as she desperately tried to think of something of interest to talk to Leon about.

"It's a nice day today." Leon commented.

Still racking her brain for a conversation topic, Claire didn't hear him. Instead, she continued to look around at her surroundings.

Right as Leon began to open his mouth to ask Claire if she was alright, she spotted something she knew she'd be able to talk about.

"Leon, look!" Claire called out, getting his attention as she pointed over to where the land met the water. "Did you know that there are different names for groups of ducks depending on where they are or what they're doing?"

"Really?" Leon asked, turning his head towards her and following her arm over to a number of ducks that were swimming, flying, or simply standing around. "I always thought they were just called flocks."

"Mmmhmm!" Claire nodded excitedly, her brunette ponytail bouncing up and down as she moved her head. "They can be called that, but that's a catch all term."

Lowering her arm, Claire began listing off each name as she counted them off on her left hand. "If they're flying they're called a skein, string, or team."

Switching over to her right hand, Claire began counting while her left hand still had three fingers extended to keep track of the different terms. "And if they're swimming they're called a bunch, paddling, or raft!"

"Wow." Leon mused, impressed with the extent of Claire's knowledge. "That's a lot of names for just a group of ducks."

"Yeah!" Claire nodded happily, giggling slightly. "And... And look over there!" She shouted, pointing towards the water again.

Looking in the direction she had dictated once more, Leon saw a bunch of little yellow ducklings swimming behind their mother, with another large duck following them from the rear.

"I love ducklings!" Claire exclaimed. "They're so cute and soft and... and they're just so cute!" She joyfully squealed.

"That's the daddy du-" Claire paused for a moment, embarrassedly looking down at her shoes before picking her head back up and affixing her gaze back on to the ducks. "I-I, um... I mean the f-father duck..."

Seeing Leon smile and turn to her out of her periphery, Claire meekly looked over in his direction as he began to speak. "Claire, you never have to feel embarrassed about anything when we're together. Especially not by something you've said, so please don't feel like you have to filter or dress up your language around me."

"A-Are you sure?" Claire asked, tapping the tip of her shoe against the wooden boards beneath her feet.

"Of course." Leon responded. "I really enjoy spending time with you, and I love all the stuff that you've been teaching me."

"Love..." Claire breathed out.

"Heck..." Leon chuckled. "I've learned more these past few days with you than I did during my entire time at college."

Still dreamily thinking about Leon's choice of words, Claire pursed her lips while swaying her shoulders back and forth gleefully.

"Claire?" Leon said, trying to get her attention.

"Hmm? Oh! W-Well... Um... Where was I?" Claire asked, finally broken out of her stupor.

"You were just about to tell me what father ducks are called." Leon replied.

"O-Oh, right. Well, when m-male ducks are all grown up, they're called drakes." Claire answered. "F-Females are just called ducks th-though..."

"You sure do know a lot about animals, Claire." Leon complimented. "Did you learn all of this at school?"

"S-Some of it." She replied, as the two of them continued their stroll down the boardwalk. "I've just... I've just really enjoyed learning about animals and plants... ever since I was little..."

"That's so wonderful, Claire." Leon praised. "What got you so interested in all of that? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"I-I don't mind..." Claire began, grabbing ahold of her arm with her right hand. "B-But it's so silly... y-you'll think it's st-stupid."

"No I won't, Claire." Leon immediately replied. "There's nothing stupid about the things that inspire us."

"R-Really...?" She asked, her grip around her arm loosening a little.

"Yes, really." Leon confirmed. "And if you want, I can tell you why I became a police officer afterwards."

"I-I would... like that." Claire said, her hand sliding down to her wrist while she smiled.

"Well... um..." Claire began, fiddling with her fingers as she started to feel more and more nervous.

"...Zoobooks..." Claire quietly mumbled as she looked away from Leon and towards the ducks in the lake.

"Zoo... books?" Leon asked, the combination of the words not sounding exactly right to him. "What are those?"

Her head spinning around so quickly that her ponytail slapped her in the face, Claire's mouth was agape with shock as a gasp escaped it. "You've never heard of Zoobooks?!"

"Nuh-uh." Leon plainly replied.

"Well..." Claire paused for a second to get her thoughts together. "It's a magazine that has all sorts of information about all different animals!"

"Years ago, there was even an issue about ducks!" Claire added, clearly excited about talking about the magazine.

"Well I wasn't that big of a reader when I was a kid." Leon admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as the surprised expression persisted on Claire's face.

"How come?" She asked.

"Not sure." Leon replied. "I guess I just didn't get grabbed by a topic like you did."

"O-Oh!" Claire called out, looking down at her hands as her fingers started to rub one another. "I'm sorry, I-I'm rambling... aren't I...?"

"What? No!" Leon clarified. "I like how passionate you are, Claire."

"You... do...?" Claire asked, a squiggly little smile working its way across her lips.

"Yeah!" Leon responded. "I think it's wonderful that you have something you're so interested in, and the fact that you want to share it with others is even better."

Brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear, Claire's smile spread further across her face. "N-No one... No one's ever said something like that to me..."

"Well it's long overdue." Leon said.

"S-So... um..." Claire began, trying to hide the growing blush that was interweaving itself with her smile. "Um... y-you... your turn..."

"Why I joined the force?" Leon asked, followed by a nod from Claire. "Well that's simple, I want to help people."

"You're really good at it." Claire commented, staring at the shiny R.P.D. badge that was proudly displayed on Leon's chest. "A-At helping people... I-I mean."

"I don't know about that." Leon humbly replied. "So far all I've really done is direct traffic and get a kid's balloon out of a tree."

"W-Well I think... I-I think that... that..." Claire cupped her hands against her stomach while looking forward. "Th-That all good deeds matter, n-no matter how small."

Bobbing his head back and forth a bit to consider what Claire said, Leon shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose that's true. Thank you, Claire."

With another lull in the conversation as they walked past a group of shrubs, Claire grabbed ahold of a leaf and plucked it off of its branch, rubbing and folding the small piece of foliage between the fingers of both of her hands.

Looking at the leaf she was playing with, Claire spoke up again. "D-Did you know that all types of leaves have their own names?"

"I only know the difference between leaves and pine needles." Leon remarked.

Giggling slightly, Claire held up the leaf she collected from the nearby shrub. "This is an undulated leaf."

Handing it to Leon, he looked it over. "Huh, it's kind of like an oval."

"Exactly!" Claire energetically replied, before her vigor dissipated and she brought her left hand up to her side.

"I-I, um... I actually have some..." She cleared her throat and lowered her voice, her hand still held firmly where it was. "S-Some drawings of some..."

"You draw, Claire?" Leon asked, replete with the same energy Claire had just been full of.

"A-A little..." Claire answered. "W-Would you... l-like to see them?"

"I'd love to!" Leon replied, causing Claire's lips to curl into a nervous smile as she nodded.

Placing her fingers around the zipper of her red leather jacket, Claire slowly brought the clasp down from where it had previously sat around the front of her neck. Sliding the piece of metal down along her chest revealed a black tank top, but above that was a thin silver chain that held two metal feathers.

"That's a beautiful necklace, Claire." Leon complimented.

Looking down at the jewelry, Claire's smile went from nervous to exuberant. "M-My big brother gave it to me for my birthday last year."

Moving her hand from the zipper that now rested at her waist, Claire grabbed ahold of her necklace and brought it forward so Leon could get a better look at it. "Do you... really like it?"

"Yeah, it's really nice." Leon replied, looking over the necklace more closely.

Looking over the two silver feathers, they were both intricately detailed, appearing as if they were feathers that had just been dipped in molten metal. One feather was smaller, probably about a quarter of the size of the larger one. But right where the feather met the chain of the necklace itself, sat a perfectly egg-shaped piece of turquoise.

"You should definitely show it off a bit more." Leon said, leaning back after getting a good look at her jewelry.

"O-Okay..." Claire shyly replied as she gave a small nod of affirmation.

Placing her right hand into the interior of her jacket, Claire pulled out a leatherbound journal that was the same shade of red as both her jacket and watch strap.

Cracking open her journal, Claire began to skim the contents with her blue eyes, flipping between pages at a rapid pace as she searched for exactly what she wanted to share with Leon.

"Here we go!" Claire called out, stopping on a page and sliding up shoulder to shoulder next to Leon. "Here are some of the leaves I saw the last time I was up in the Arklays with Chris."

Holding the journal up a bit so that Leon could see its contents more easily, Claire swallowed her nerves. "W-What do you th-think?"

As he gazed at Claire's drawings, all that Leon was able to reply with was a whisper past slightly parted lips. "Wow..."

Claire's level of detail in her illustrations was incredible, every aspect of each individual leaf was perfectly captured upon the page of her journal. Every part of the leaf, from the stem to the interior veins were on display with little notes jotted down about them, from their names to where they were found. Claire's journal had the makings of both a professional artist and a seasoned biologist.

"This is..." Leon shook his head slightly in disbelief. "Absolutely incredible, Claire."

Smiling widely at his praise, Claire hopped up and down ever so slightly. "Thank you, Leon!"

She held her journal closer to him. "W-Would you like to see more?"

"Thank you, I'd love to!" Leon replied, gratefully accepting the receptacle for Claire's illustrations.

There was that word again, Claire felt the warmth that always emanated from her chest whenever she was with Leon intensify.

Claire looked up to him as he turned page after page, marveling at how she had perfectly captured a bounty of animals and plants through her drawings.

Gazing up at him, Claire's eyes rested upon his lips, curled into an impressed smile and slightly parted. She could probably reach them if she stood on the tips of her toes.

But the moment her heels left the ground beneath them, Leon's expression changed into an appearance of surprise.

And the moment his expression changed, so did Claire's. Her dreamy countenance transformed into horror as she realized what Leon had laid his eyes upon.

"Is this... me?" He asked, turning the page of the journal towards Claire.

Craning her neck up, Claire was met with the face of two Leons, one smiling pleasantly and the other one perplexed.

She wasn't able to meet any of the four eyes that were leveled against her. All that Claire could do was rigorously shake her head in the affirmative as she gripped the silver feather around her neck with both hands and held onto it for dear life.

"Huh, this feels a lot different than looking in a mirror." Leon mused, turning the journal around to take another look at the illustrated version of himself. "Or even at a picture."

Her white knuckled grip around her jewelry loosening a bit, Claire stared up towards Leon. "W-What...?"

"Oh, you know..." Leon began. "Looking at a drawing of me feels different than seeing my picture or reflection."

"Though no one's ever drawn my picture before, so maybe that's why." He added, handing the journal back to Claire.

"Y-You're not m-mad at m-me...?" Claire meekly asked, accepting the journal back from Leon.

"Mad?" Leon asked, confusion laced in his voice. "Why would I be mad? You're an incredible artist, Claire. I think having a place in your journal is very flattering."

"Y-You mean it?" Claire asked, gently rubbing her thumb against the corner of the page that the illustration of Leon rested upon.

"Yes, I mean it." Leon answered. "Though, why'd you draw me of all people?"

Her grip tightening around her journal, Claire swallowed the growing nerves that she felt in her throat. "B-Because... Because..."

She felt her heart begin to race. "I-I... I wanted..."

Staring into the illustrated eyes that were perfectly captured on her page, Claire felt the palms of her hands begin to sweat. "I wanted to... to practice..."

Slowly, Claire began to peel her eyes away from the drawing she had created from pure memory. Steadily tilting her head up, Claire's blue eyes met Leon's. "L-Looking into your eyes..."


End file.
